John Thomas McDonald Army recruiter accused of sending lewd text messages to a 16-year-old student while speaking to her high school class about joining the military

The Army recruiter accused of sending lewd text messages to a 16-year-old student he met while speaking to her high school class about joining the military was held on $10,000 bail Saturday morning and ordered to have no contact with anyone under the age of 21.

Prosecutors originally requested that John Thomas McDonald II, 26, be held on $25,000 for each count of transmission of harmful material to a minor, but Judge Diana Lewis ordered it reduced to $5,000 each. She also raised the suggested age of those Lewis is prohibited from contacting from 18 to 21.

“You do realize this is inappropriate,” Lewis told McDonald, who said he had applied for a public defender but had not yet been assigned one, and was represented Saturday by public defender Paul D. Caruso.

The state alleges that McDonald obtained a list of students who might be interested in joining the Army after his speech, with another recruiter, at Royal Palm Beach High School. He contacted the victim, who initially thought the messages were related to his recruiting job until they turned flirtatious. Police said he inquired about her virginity and gave an account of how he would perform oral sex on her.

He also sent two nude photos of himself via Snapchat, a mobile app that only keeps messages for a specific amount of time before erasing them. In one message, McDonald acknowledged that the victim was underage, writing “If I wouldn’t go to jail … I would totally ask you out lol.”